# Ideas?



## I liek Squirtles (Feb 22, 2011)

I got nominated for the CYLC, but the tuition costs $2000, plus $1000 and additional expenses (first-last day lunch, souveniers,etc.). But I have some ideas (like in the school tourneys and stuff I set up a Wii booth and charge $5 per play), so please suggest original ideas.


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## spaekle (Feb 22, 2011)

How old are you? Can you get a part-time job? :\


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## I liek Squirtles (Feb 22, 2011)

No, I'm not old enough. See, if I had a job, this thread wouldn't be here.


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## Whirlpool (Feb 23, 2011)

I've heard that's pretty much a scam. The fact that they have a section in their FAQ saying "Is this a scam?" says something, as well as most reviews on the Internet, so.


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## I liek Squirtles (Feb 23, 2011)

It's not a scam. Trust me. Teachers nominate you. My mom talked with the teacher who nominated me, and he knew what she was talking about. Plus, they send you a daily program, an enrollment thingy, etc. etc. plus a list of alumni of your school.


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## surskitty (Feb 23, 2011)

From some quick googling, it seems to be a scam.  Well, worthless, anyway.  Don't go for it.


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## I liek Squirtles (Feb 23, 2011)

If you got a chess thing, it´s not that.


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## Crazy Linoone (Feb 24, 2011)

Eh, it's not a scam in the sense that you pay them money and they go "lol your money disappeared here's a crappy hotel room in the middle of nowhere," but more in the way of "dude, this program is not worth paying that much for." 

I would suggest that you spend your money on something else that's more worthwhile. $2000 is _a lot_ of money, more than you should be paying for only a few days of camp.


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## nastypass (Feb 24, 2011)

Not to rain on your parade, but.



> Take the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC), for example. Its certified-mail "nominating" papers have informed recipients they were exceptional students who had been chosen, along with 350 others from across the country, to represent their states as "Congressional Scholars" at a "very special week" in Washington. The letters didn't tell them they would be among 9,000 students attending one of 24 "special" tour weeks a year conducted by (CYLC), that it had rented their names and addresses from a national survey firm or, according to press reports, that at least two D-average students and one expelled gang member are among those so "honored." Each year the council sends out more than 100,000 letters to students.


source

Sorry bro, but this _really_ doesn't seem worth it.  Like, at all.


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## I liek Squirtles (Feb 28, 2011)

I'M NOT IN HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!


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## Crazy Linoone (Mar 1, 2011)

I liek Squirtles said:


> I'M NOT IN HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!


It doesn't change the fact that it's not worth the money... 

Read the whole article. It basically explains how CYLC is a scam; it doesn't matter that you're not in high school because it's managed by the same company, i.e. the one that only wants your money and doesn't give a crap about your grades. 

Pro tip: most programs that sends you mail and tells you to go are usually crap. Really good programs don't bother with that kind of stuff because they don't need students to give them money, and they already have enough people applying for them already. Plus, the good programs usually offer financial aid to anyone that needs it because they want to attract smart kids, not just rich people. 

So, really, stop wasting your time on this and do other things that's more worth both your time and money. If you really want to go to summer programs, go Google them. You'd be surprised at how many good, legit ones pop up (although the application process is a pain).


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## I liek Squirtles (Mar 1, 2011)

Crazy Linoone said:


> It doesn't change the fact that it's not worth the money...
> 
> Read the whole article. It basically explains how CYLC is a scam; it doesn't matter that you're not in high school because it's managed by the same company, i.e. the one that only wants your money and doesn't give a crap about your grades.
> 
> ...


If you want I can take a phot of the letter. I was recommended by a teacher.


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## Flora (Mar 2, 2011)

I liek Squirtles said:


> If you want I can take a phot of the letter. I was recommended by a teacher.


I think I got one of those exact same things last year. It said I was recommended by a teacher.

Would've seemed more legit if the school name had been correct.


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## Shiny Grimer (Mar 2, 2011)

Yeah, I had one of those same things - not the same program, but very similar. A teacher recommended me to go. I googled it and I found a bunch of people saying things like their F-students had also been "recommended" and students who weren't in high school. In the end I decided not to go because it cost too much money and didn't seem worth it. :\

EDIT: But for general fundraising ideas, selling chocolate is always a good one. World's Finest is popular but their chocolate is sort of made by slave labor so maybe you don't want that? You're 11, so I don't know if you can do odd jobs... Raising money is always difficult. :|


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## surskitty (Mar 2, 2011)

Do you know _which_ teacher?  8)


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## Crazy Linoone (Mar 2, 2011)

I liek Squirtles said:


> If you want I can take a phot of the letter. I was recommended by a teacher.


I see that you missed my point... I'll try again because I'm a nice person like that. 

CYLC is not worth it. Either CYLC is lying about the teacher recommendation part, or the teacher also fell for it.


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## Seritinajii (Mar 2, 2011)

Even without the whole teacher recommendation lie, $3000 still is a lot for four days. What do you want to get from this program? Leadership experience? Meeting new people? You can do that in other places in other ways for much less.


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## Crazy Linoone (Mar 2, 2011)

Adding on to what Seritinajii said, $3000 can usually get you four _weeks_ of camp.


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## H-land (Mar 2, 2011)

Crazy Linoone said:


> Adding on to what Seritinajii said, $3000 can usually get you four _weeks_ of camp.


Next Spring I am travelling to Peru.
$5500 to go there, along with my school.*
I will be gone for twelve weeks on trip,
But still, with the cost, there's a twist:
The $5500 is actually more**
Than what I'll have to pay to go on the tour
Since room and board at my now-institution
Will not be charged while I'm on my expedition.

So what I mean to say, when it's all said and done,
Is that your use of this money sounds a lot less than fun.

* $5500 read "five-point five K"
** $5500 read "fifty-five hundred"
Rooming costs here run from $3.2k to $5.7k, and the meal plan is $2k- which actually means I should definitely be saving money. Might have to talk to the professor about this. ...After I'm done taking the test in her class today.


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## Butterfree (Mar 2, 2011)

Yeeeah.

Look, it can hurt to get excited over something that looks prestigious and seems to be picking you out as exceptional and then hear it's actually a scam, but you really, really ought to face reality. $3000 is an _astronomical_ sum for a kid. If you did raise that much money, there would be much, _much_ better things to spend it on than four days of tuition in how the government works; hell, if you want to find out how the government works you can do that for free on the Internet. This is a waste of money.


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## Lord of the Fireflies (Mar 2, 2011)

Im applying for a trip to _Greece _ (I live in north america... OK YES CANADA) and i would pay ~2000 dollars for it. 10 days. Its more then two times the number of days, at the opposite side of the world, and its like 1000 dollars less expensive. 

Just listen to Linoone's advice. Really, you could do so much more with 3000 dollars.


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## Pwnemon (Mar 3, 2011)

I liek Squirtles said:


> I got nominated for the CYLC, but the tuition costs $2000, plus $1000 and additional expenses (first-last day lunch, souveniers,etc.). But I have some ideas (like in the school tourneys and stuff I set up a Wii booth and charge $5 per play), so please suggest original ideas.


I got that thing too. I think my basic idea was "screw it not worth it." If you really want to go, you can start a lawn-mowing business. It isn't original, but you can make a buttload of cash from it.


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